Miss Fisher’s Spotswood Pumping Station Adventure

The Phryne Fisher detective series by Melbourne author Kerry Greenwood has been delighting and exciting those of us who have a passion for, or even a passing interest in, the dynamic and ever changing history of Melbourne. The television adaptation of the adventures of the sassy super sleuth has set the scene of 1920s Melbourne for avid readers of the series.

We are excited to say that Museum Victoria’s very own Spotswood Pumping Station will star in this Friday night's episode of Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries (27 April 2012, 8:30pm on ABC1, repeated Sunday 29 April, 10:15pm on ABC1). To help you spot our beloved Pumping Station, we have included some terrific images from our collection in this post.

The heritage-listed Spotswood Pumping Station was built by the Melbourne & Metropolitan Board of Works and completed in 1897. It formed a crucial link in Melbourne’s first sewage collection system by pumping the raw sewage from the underground sewers around Melbourne to Brooklyn, from where it flowed under gravity to the final processing site in Werribee.

Melbourne’s growth as an internationally renowned city was dependent upon being able to manage its waste in a safe and efficient fashion, and the Pumping Station certainly played a most important role.

Imagine our delight and intrigue when we heard that the Spotswood Pumping Station, located at Scienceworks, would play host to a TV shoot and be transformed into a 1920s factory. The upshot of which: this Friday night, episode ten of Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries sees Phryne (Essie Davis) investigate the death of a young female worker in a factory 'accident'. She soon learns that the woman's death might not be the misadventure the police think it is. Faced with a wall of secrecy and lies, Phryne sends her trusty maid Dot (Ashleigh Cummings) undercover into the factory to investigate. When a second suspicious death occurs, Phryne fights desperately to save one of her closest friends from the gallows.

In the above image, Phryne’s best friend Dr Mac is standing in the South Engine Room in front of one of the electrically powered air compressors built by local engineering company, Kelly & Lewis, circa 1926. Most of the Pumping Station interior and machinery seen in the background of factory scenes during the episode have barely changed since the decade in which the series is set.

The Spotswood Pumping Station has been the site of many a dalliance with the silver screen and we are all excited to continue our sleuthing into the many uses of this wonderful part of Melbourne’s history in film and television. To be continued...

What a surprise, how many noticed the west gate bridge in full operation in the above window of the pumping station complete with trucks and cars buzzing by. Strange sight for 1928 :) a glimpse into the future maybe ????? My family (having worked there for many years) spotted it straight away.